In hmolscience, Rupert Riedl (1925-2005) was an Austrian zoologist noted, in evolution thermodynamics, for his 1978 Order in Living Systems: a Systems Analysis of Evolution, in which he attempts to grapple with the second law evolution issue, in regards to how animate systems (living systems) build up order, in a universe governed by the second law, which in his view means that systems tend to pass from order to disorder.
Overview
In 1978, Riedl, in his Order in Living Systems: a Systems Analysis of Evolution, argued that living organisms do not violate the second law, but rather, in his view, organisms are open systems they are able to evade the second law. In some way or another he describes the entire process as being “exentropic”, i.e. an entropy antonym term, owing to the flow of energy from the sun to outer space, but that local processes may lead to order such as a sonnet or the smile on a Mona Lisa. [1] This solution, however, seems to be but a rehash of Belgian-born English thermodynamicist Alfred Ubbelohde 1947 local entropy decrease models of life.
Riedl’s main thesis, according to American natural scientist Justin Lancaster, is that basic chemical self-organization is the driving force of evolution. [2]
References
1. Riedly, Rupert. (1978). Order in Living Systems: a Systems Analysis of Evolution (thermodynamics, 8+ pgs). Wiley.
2. Lancaster, Justin. (1989). “The Theory of Radially Evolving Energy” (abs), Int. J. General Systems, 16: 43-73.
External links
● Rupert Riedl – Wikipedia.
